Fishing is enjoyed around the world. From professional fishermen to the weekend fishermen, there has been a constant search for an ideal lure. This ideal lure would simulate live bait in all of its attributes, such as the way live bait looks, the way it smells, and, most particularly, the way in which live bait moves through the water.
There have been many lures that have attempted to simulate this movement of live bait through the water. Two such lures, as examples, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,696 to Kato (the '696 patent) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,346 to Jussaume (the '346 patent). FIG. 1 illustrates the '696 patent, which is a lure 100 made of a hard inner portion 101 and a soft outer portion 103. In this lure 100 there are two parts to the hard inner portion 101, which are connected by an elastic component 105. The hard inner portions 101 and the elastic component 105 are covered by the soft outer portion 103 in the shape of the lure 100. The soft outer portion 103 and the elastic component 105 allow the lure 100 to bend back and forth, thereby attempting to mimic live bait. However, in this design, movement is limited and there is no mechanism for inducing a movement in the lure 100 when it is in the water.
FIG. 2 illustrates the '346 patent, which is a top-water lure 200 with angled channels 201 in the top and bottom surfaces. These channels 201 run the longitudinal length of the top-water lure 200. When an angler retrieves the top-water lure 200 after casting, the water flowing through the angled channels 201 cause the top-water lure 200 to rise to the surface of the water, supposedly giving the appearance of a fleeing baitfish. While this design may cause the top-water lure 200 to rise to the surface of the water, this design does not allow for any bending of the top-water lure 200 to more closely imitate live bait.
As stated, the '346 patent and the '696 patent attempt to imitate the real actions of live bait. However, these lures do not do a realistic job of imitating the movements of live bait. A new lure with a more realistic imitation of the actions of live bait is needed.